drug use during pregnancy laws in georgia
Such laws may discourage people from seeking prenatal care. For example, a woman in New Jersey faced civil child abuse and neglect proceedings for complying with her doctor's recommendation to stay on methadone treatment while pregnant,57 the gold standard treatment for opioid dependency during pregnancy.53 The proceedings against her were ultimately thrown out by an appellate court. These 24 cases included 29 women in 19 states who were prosecuted for criminal charges related to harm to a fetus or child as a result of substance use during pregnancy. The laws can vary widely from state to state in terms of reporting requirements and consequences of reporting. Illegal drugs in pregnancy - NHS Her infant tested positive for cocaine shortly after birth. Those efforts continue under a wide variety of laws even in states where high courts have previously rejected the prosecution approach. Between 1992 and 1995, the number of states that prosecuted drug-addicted pregnant women increased nearly threefold. Charges included child endangerment (n = 11), child abuse (n = 6), drug delivery (n = 4), attempted aggravated child abuse (n = 2), chemical endangerment of a child (n = 2), child neglect (n = 1), child mistreatment (n = 1), homicide (n = 1), manslaughter (n = 1), and reckless injury to a child (n = 1). Urine screening remains the most commonly used method despite the limited period during which drugs can be detected. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. Neonatal abstinence syndrome . An official website of the State of Georgia. Drug Use During Pregnancy Effects | Turnbridge Dr. Appelbaum is Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Law, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and Director, Division of Law, Ethics, and Psychiatry, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and NY State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY. [Ref. Additionally, in three states, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, women who use drugs during pregnancy can be involuntarily committed to a treatment program. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, even as some states have legalized it for recreational and medicinal use. Using illegal drugs during pregnancy is dangerous for an unborn baby and the mother. Good reproductive health policy starts with credible research. Instead of punishing women for the chronic condition of addiction, something that is unethical, ineffective and inhumane, we should invest instead in the expansion of women- and family-friendly treatment resources, said Dr. Mishka Terplan, a professor in obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry and associate director in addiction medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. The use of tobacco and alcohol are common (these are discussed in Sections 12 and 13) but the use of illicit substances and the misuse of prescription medications is also important. We also identified judicial references to expert or fact witness medical testimony and to medical literature or medical or public health-related amicus briefs. All of these cases were appellate decisions except for one published trial court decision,24 which we discuss separately, given that trial court decisions are not typically published and do not resolve matters of law. They have 1 child together that was born prematurely due to her drug use. The Supreme Courts in Alabama and South Carolina have upheld convictions ruling that an individuals substance use in pregnancy constitutes criminal child abuse. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page. The survey also notes that if prenatal drug use is suspected, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin require health professionals to report it while Indiana requires pregnant women to be tested; Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota require both. The Wisconsin law is especially draconian: A woman can be detained against her will for the duration of her pregnancy, her fetus has its own court-appointed lawyer, she can lose custody of her baby after birth and the proceedings are mostly secret. Further research is needed to better understand how marijuana may affect pregnant women and developing babies. You should also speak to your GP, midwife or a drug support service if you're regularly taking prescribed medicines. A November study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association tracked the rise of laws that criminalized taking drugs while pregnant, as well as classifying drug use during pregnancy as child abuse that could result in loss of custody rights or as grounds for a civil commitment. App. Here is a survey of state laws. In jurisdictions where criminal charges are permitted, dispositions for convicted women should be treatment oriented. Illegal Drug Use and Pregnancy - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia This evolution over time may reflect contemporaneous moral panic linked to the potential deleterious effects of particular substances on fetal outcomes.1. App. The vast majority ofTemporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding, or federal welfare dollars meant to help the poor, is not spent on assistance to poor families, but rather on placing and keeping children in the foster care system. Supporters of these laws blame the mothers for the dissolution of their families, arguing that the mothers need only enroll in a drug treatment program to retain custody of their children. Some research shows that marijuana use during pregnancy is linked to health concerns, including high use of other substances that may impact pregnancy and infant health such as tobacco, and developmental problems in adolescents. To view abstracts of recent publications in PubMed, see Prevalence and patterns of marijuana use among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age and Marijuana use during and after pregnancy and association of prenatal use on birth outcomes: A population-based study. Despite progress in the criminal legal system, the drug war remains almost unchallenged in the child protection system, and it is wreaking havoc on families. "Georgia Supreme Court Orders C-Section Mother Nature Reverses on Appeal." . The apparent lack of a link between the proscribed conduct and a distinct harm in a large number of the cases is one example of this significant limit to the rationale for criminalization. Twelve opinions noted that other jurisdictions ruled similarly when faced with such cases. Hence, health care providers should select relatively safe drugs. Cases were decided by state supreme courts (n = 15) and state courts of appeals (n = 14). State Responses to Substance Abuse Among Pregnant Women Drug addiction is a serious problem, especially when the drug addict is pregnant. LEXIS 970 (Tenn. Crim. Pregnancy - Department of Health Are Doctors Legally Required to Report Drug Use During Pregnancy All types of alcohol are equally harmful, including all wines and beer. Ct. App. Keywords: laws, policies, substance use, care, treatment, infants, neglect Created Date: 8/17/2022 9:48:14 PM One local news source investigated Poolaw's case in conjunction with 45 other pregnant women across the state charged with felony child abuse, neglect, or manslaughter in relation with substance use since 2017. 297 (N.C. 2015), Arrests of and forced interventions on pregnant women in the United States, 19732005: implications for women's legal status and public health, State v. McKnight, 352 S.C. 635, 647 (S.C. 2003), Ankrom v. State, 152 So.3d 397, 411 (Ala. 2013), Moral and social issues regarding pregnant women who use and abuse drugs, A gap in the criminal justice system, creating a new class of felons in pregnant drug-addicted women, a state-by-state analysis, Prosecution of illicit drug use during pregnancy: Crystal Ferguson v. City of Charleston, From the Office of the General Counsel. In other instances, where medical expertise was referenced, it did not necessarily support the defendants' position. Substance Use During Pregnancy | CDC Anonymous screening of consecutive urine samples testing positive for pregnancy from a UK inner-city clinic demonstrated that approximately 16% of the women had taken one or more illicit substances (Sherwood et al, 1999). 1 Fifteen states have laws requiring health care workers to report to authorities if they suspect a woman is abusing drugs during pregnancy. Illegal Drug Use and Pregnancy. Learn about the Division of Reproductive Healths efforts to address opioid use disorder to improve maternal and infant health. The decisions do not go so far as to say that it would be unlawful for the legislature explicitly to prohibit substance use during pregnancy, although questions about the constitutionality of such an approach have been raised in the legal literature.2,3,20 Rather, most of the decisions simply found that the legislature did not intend for the existing criminal laws to apply to prenatal conduct. The underlying legal question considered in the judicial decisions in these cases is whether, for the purpose of adjudicating the criminal charges, a fetus is a child. In totality, medical expertise seemed to play relatively little role in determining the outcome of most judicial decisions. Facts are largely determined at the trial level. My distant cousin is a meth addict. Such information can assist in making diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), as well as help clinicians focus the plan for treatment and follow-up for the neonates. Opioid use disorder during pregnancy has been linked with serious negative health outcomes for pregnant women and developing babies, including preterm birth, stillbirth, maternal mortality, and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Termination of parental rights is a mechanism by which families are turned into strangers, all contact and personal identity is erased, and families are destroyed forever. Medical and public health authoritieswarn that women who fear losing their babies upon seeking medical care will bedeterredfrom seeking the care they need. Priority applies to pregnant people referred for treatment. As Substance Abuse Rises, Hospitals Drug Test Mothers, Newborns Medical and public health experts who are desirous of seeing a greater focus on treatment of substance-abusing pregnant women must stay particularly alert to legislative efforts to expand the legal definition of a child to include fetuses or to define prenatal substance use explicitly as a form of child abuse. For example, onestudyfound that parents who use opiates find babies less cutewhile conceivably notable, this finding does not meet the legal standard for terminating a parents rights. Using illegal drugs while pregnant can cause many complications to the baby including brain damage, premature birth, low birth weight and even fetal death. The Legality of Drug-Testing Procedures for Pregnant Women 1996), State v. Aiwohi, 123 P.3d 1210 (Haw. App.3d 214 (Cal. In Kilmon v. State, the court said, The Tips campaign features information about how smoking and secondhand smoking affect specific groups, including pregnant women or women planning to have a baby. For the purpose of this review, we identified published legal decisions regarding women criminally charged with a crime against a fetus or child for substance use during pregnancy from appellate level courts. Professional advocacy may best be directed at state legislatures. Consistent with guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, CDC advises against using marijuana during pregnancy. "Complex Calculations: How Drug Use during Pregnancy Becomes a Barrier to Prenatal Care." . At the present time, the Center for MSACD fulfills several roles in Georgia by sponsoring clinical, prevention, and research programs. Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project Effects of Drugs & Alcohol During Pregnancy - WebMD Alabama's crackdown on pregnant marijuana users - al.com Narcotics Anonymous World Service Office in Los Angeles PO Box 9999 Van Nuys, California 91409 Telephone: (818) 773-9999 Fax: (818) 700-0700 Web site: www.na.org Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration That said, there are a few things you should know about "drugs-while-pregnant" law across the U.S.: Most states have tried, at one point or another, to prosecute women for drug use during pregnancy. Federal drug laws exist to control the use, manufacturing, possession, and distribution of various drugs that are legal and illegal. 1977), State v. Gethers, 585 So.2d 1140, 1143 (Fla. Dist. National Survey on Drug Use and Health - Substance Abuse and Mental There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink. For example, Amanda Kimbrough's child was born prematurely and died shortly after birth, having tested positive for methamphetamine. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable. Drug use is an uncommon cause of birth defects, yet approximately 200,000 children (3-5% of live births) are born with birth defects each year. Prescription opioids may be prescribed by doctors to manage moderate to severe pain. However, in 2015, law enforcement cracked down on drug use during pregnancy. The court also referred to rulings by appellate courts in other jurisdictions that had held similarly in comparable cases. The South Carolina Supreme Court held that a viable fetus is a "person" under the state's criminal child-endangerment statute and that "maternal acts endangering or likely to endanger the life, comfort, or health of a viable fetus" constitute criminal child abuse. Georgia Marijuana Laws - FindLaw Cocaine lingers in a fetus much longer than an adult and often 5-7 days after birth. Apr 20, 2022, M. Forrest Behne, Craig Waleed, Meghan Peterson, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein Learn more about e-cigarettes and pregnancy. Georgia Marijuana Statutes 38]. 2015), The prevalence of illicit-drug or alcohol use during pregnancy and discrepancies in mandatory reporting in Pinellas County, Florida, Substance use during pregnancy and postnatal outcomes, Punishing pregnant drug users: enhancing the flight from care, Women's perspectives on screening for alcohol and drug use in prenatal care, Drug use and limited prenatal care: an examination of responsible barriers, Universal screening for alcohol and drug use and racial disparities in child protective services reporting, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women and American Society of Addiction Medicine, Committee Opinion No 524. Yet despite the country's best efforts to fight it, the problem is getting worse, and is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure youre on an official state website. Prenatal drug exposure may also contribute to long-term behavioral effects and developmental deficits. CDC twenty four seven. About Opioid Use During Pregnancy | CDC - Centers for Disease Control How States Handle Drug Use During Pregnancy - ProPublica The substances related to the charges included cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and prescription pills. What if a pregnant woman drives over the speed limit, or as a matter of vanity doesn't wear the prescription lenses she knows she needs to see the dangers of the road? Ct. App. Millions ofparentswho use drugs or have substance use disorders parent their children well. Unless otherwise noted, you can republish our stories for free if you follow these rules. The balance in the courts in favor of treating substance use during pregnancy as a medical problem depends on the definition of a child for the purposes of criminal statutes. Section 2 of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 (Act 457) requires public employers, their contractors and subcontractors to verify the work eligibility of all newly hired employees through an electronic federal work authorization program. Marijuana During Pregnancy - SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Meanwhile, private insurance companies have found ways to circumvent Obamacare requirements on MAT coverage. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests. 1992), Johnson v. State, 602 So.2d 1288 (Fla. 1992), State v. Gray, 584 N.E.2d 710 (Ohio 1992), Commonwealth v. Welch, 864 S.W.2d 280, 283 (Ky. 1993), Sheriff, Washoe County, Nevada v. Encoe, 885 P.2d 596 (Nev. 1994), Collins v. State, 890 S.W.2d 893 (Tex. We developed categories of relevant variables to code a priori. 2005), Kilmon v. State, 905 A.2d 306, 314 (Md. NAS is a group of withdrawal symptoms that most commonly occurs in newborns after exposure to opioids during pregnancy.If you are pregnant and using opioid pain medications, CDC recommends you talk to your provider before starting or stopping any medications to help you understand all of the risks and make the safest choice for you and your pregnancy. The effects of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, can be devastating on a fetus. The court held that the legislature did not intend for the relevant statute to apply to conduct during pregnancy that affected fetuses. Dr. Angelotta is Instructor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. A total of 24 published judicial opinions met the inclusion criteria (Table 1). In the family court systems, there is no respect for medicine or science, she wrote. Drug abuse has a long and storied history in the United States, and we've been "at war" with it since 1971 under the Nixon administration. Before losing contact with her lawyer, M. told me her story via email. Daily/near daily cannabis use in the past month increased from 0.9% to 3.4% among pregnant women overall, and from 1.8% to 5.3% during the first trimester; from 0.6% to 2.5% during . The groups listed below help people with drug abuse. Learn more at Alcohol Use in Pregnancy from the Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders. 19 stateshave either created or funded drug treatment programs specifically targeted to those who are pregnant, and 17 states and the District of Columbia provide pregnant people with priority access to state-funded drug treatment programs. Prevalence of Current Substance Use Among Pregnant People in the US. We also were unable to determine the race or economic status of the defendants and do not know if poor or minority women are overrepresented among the defendants. In the medical model, treatment, not punishment, is the remedy to reduce consumption of substances during pregnancy.4 Medical and public health experts are widely opposed to efforts to criminalize substance use by pregnant women.5,,8, Reflecting societal uncertainty about the best approach, legal penalties for substance use during pregnancy because of harm to the fetus or child vary significantly among the states. The infant was born prematurely. State law prohibits a medical provider from releasing information about a pregnant individuals drug or alcohol test without the patients consent. Study finds increased cannabis use during pregnancy App. Most states do not have a law that requires hospitals to test infants and new moms for controlled substances. Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project | Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities For access to services and immediate crisis help, call the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225, available 24/7. Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-drug Law, and Policy in America: A "Crack Mother's" Nightmare . Another major concern is addressing the harm that a child of any age can \ suffer when a parent's use of alcohol or other substances leads to neglect of the child, or the child is exposed to illegal drug activity. It often relies on caseworker-confirmed reports of child maltreatment, despite thewell-documentedpropensity of caseworkers and family courts to base findings of child neglect on evidence of drug use alone. For more information, see What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Pregnancyand The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research (2017). MSACD collaborates with Georgias Alcohol Prevention Providers and their communities in all six of Georgias regions to raise awareness about alcohol and substance abuse among pregnant women. Subscribe to our newsletters for regular updates, analysis and context straight to your email. On June 13, 1997, the governor of Tennessee signed House Bill 1413, making it a Class A misdemeanor for child abuse where: (1) a woman consumes alcohol or illegal drugs during pregnancy with knowledge or the reason to know that such consumption may result in harm to her child; and (2) the child is born addicted to alcohol or drugs. Along with counseling and behavioral therapy, opioid medications (buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone) may be used in medication assisted therapy (MAT) to treat opioid use disorder. No adverse neonatal outcomes were reported in 41 percent of the pregnancies in this study. As part of CDCs efforts to prevent overdoses and substance use-related harms, CDC is taking specific actions to prevent opioid use disorder among pregnant women and women who could become pregnant and to make sure women with opioid use disorder get proper treatment. These may include the medical model of substance use disorders,4 racial disparities in substance use screening and reporting in pregnancy,47 and the difficulty of attributing a particular birth outcome to a single cause.48, Criminalization of pregnant women for substance abuse is fraught with problems related to conceptual and practical implementation, even if in theory one believes that substance use in pregnancy is both a moral dilemma and a medical problem. Substance Use While Pregnant and Breastfeeding This claim disregards the fact that drug addiction is ahealth issuewith biological, behavioral, and genetic dimensions, and similar to other health conditions, itdoes not respond wellto artificially imposed treatment timelines or mandated treatment. Exact terminology for relevant crimes varies across states and broad inclusion criteria were used for initial case review. She had given birth approximately one year earlier to a child who had also tested positive for cocaine. Saving Lives, Protecting People, https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment, prevent overdoses and substance use-related harms, Learn about the Division of Reproductive Healths efforts to address opioid use disorder to improve maternal and infant health, CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, A Collaborative Approach to the Treatment of Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorders, Opioid Use and Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy, Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder and their infants, Final Report: Opioid Use, Misuse, and Overdose in Women, What We Can Do About Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy, SAMHSAs Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Pregnancy, The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research (2017), Prevalence and patterns of marijuana use among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age. When she visited him, she was distressed to find he often had seemingly untreated rashes. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: We take your privacy seriously. In contrast, state legislatures could choose to preclude attempted efforts at prosecution with amendments that make explicit that existing laws are not meant to apply to prenatal conduct that may affect fetuses. Kentucky similarly struggles with poverty, poor access to substance use treatment services, and a child protective system that spends more resources on placing children in foster care than keeping them with their families. Babies exposed to cocaine in the womb have a 25 percent increased chance of being born premature. State of Georgia government websites and email systems use georgia.gov or ga.gov at the end of the address. Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. Indeed, Kentucky has one of the highest rates of child removal in the country. Supporters of these laws justify the surveillance, policing, and punishment of drug-using mothers by referencing two assumptions that were touted and then discredited during and after thecrack baby scare. The other opinion33 that directly referenced medical literature did so to demonstrate the range of behaviors that are not legally proscribed (e.g., smoking, failing to obtain prenatal care) that are associated with poor neonatal outcomes. Wisconsin provides priority access to pregnant people in both general and private programs. In 2014, Tennessee made national news when it became the first state in the country to pass a law specifically making it a crime to use drugs while pregnant. At issue is whether the continued drug use of a newborn's mother is tantamount to "child abuse" that would give child protective services workers and law enforcement officers the ability to remove the child from the mother's care - even if the . Substance use in pregnancy is an important issue in antenatal care. App. Significantly higher numbers come from the Centers for Disease Control, which in 2019 reported that some 16% of pregnant women . Future professional advocacy efforts may be most beneficial when directed at state legislatures that are dealing with proposed statutes that address these questions. Through these efforts, the Center for MSACD continues to be a valuable resource to individuals, parents, and professionals in Georgia and the Southeast. Lets Be Clear GA - MARIJUANA AND PREGNANCY Wisconsin provides priority access to pregnant people in both general and private programs. Abstract. As is true across the nation, rural areas have limited, if any, access to MAT. Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Applications for New & Existing Providers, Improving Health Outcomes Initiative Collaborative Learning Center, How to Report a Concern or Complaint about the Quality of Care or Safety, Facebook page for Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Twitter page for Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Linkedin page for Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, The Maternal Substance Abuse and ChildDevelopment, Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project. The treating pediatrician opined that the cause of death was respiratory arrest secondary to prematurity, whereas the medical examiner said that the cause of death was acute methamphetamine intoxication.18 Two of the opinions16,30 that directly referenced published medical literature referred to data that supported the conclusion that cocaine use during pregnancy creates a substantial and well-established risk to the unborn child and that this effect is within the scope of public knowledge.